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IAWS associate on German roll

HIESTAND, the Swiss-based company in which IAWS acquired a 22% stake last year for €26m, has become the biggest producer of deep-frozen baked goods in Germany. It follows Hiestand’s acquisition of Back & Friends, a leading German distributor, for €11.6m last week.

The German company has 30 employees and sales of €20m. It is strong in the Ruhr area and in the northeast of the country but this deal will give it nationwide distribution, resulting in significant synergies.

Back & Friends supplies service stations and large bakery chains and owns well-known brands such as Golden Door and Polarfrost, which are ubiquitous in retail outlets and takeaways. Hiestand’s German operation supplies more than 10,000 customers and had sales of €78m last year.

Hiestand has performed relatively well during the last year, with sales growth of 9.8% to SF331.3m (€211m). Despite the continued strength of the Swiss franc, the company said sales